Racial Stereotype in the Movie The Green Mile

The black stereotypes in Spike Lee’s film “Bamboozled” are very evident in the main characters in the minstrel show, Mantan and Sleep n’ Eat. For the show, Mantan and Sleep n’ Eat are depicted as lazy, unintelligent, and foolish. Their stereotyping is intentionally obvious to shock and shame the viewers of the show using satire. In addition to the obvious stereotypes in the television show, Lee uses the other character in the film to showcase other stereotypes. Lee uses the characters: Pierre Delacroix, Thomas Dunwitty, Sloan Hopkins, and Big Black Africa and his group as additional, slightly less obvious views of black stereotypes.

All of this proves that Hollywood is not doing a good job in making up for the blatantly racist films of the twentieth century. Hollywood needs to do more to reverse the stereotypes of early film because such stereotypes are still seen today along with their respective repercussions.

History, especially in regards to issues of race, is a repetitive thing. There are recurring events just with different faces, places, and circumstances consuming the individuals of the communities we live. Once where the black communities started to form their own progressive movements and make a name for themselves in America they are now regressing back to a time where justice for the black community only seems to be something we dream, hope, and fight for. Reading “The Fire this Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race” by Jesmyn Ward made me open my eyes to a different reality one that I think I tried to believe did not exist to appease the fantasy that one day we would all be seen as truly equals. In reality, we are not equals. We live in a world that constantly tries to demean people of

When looking deeper into where stereotypes really began it is evident that the media was the main influencer in not only gender stereotypes, but also a huge proponent in racial stereotypes. “Racism and the media touches directly the problem of ideology, since the media’s main sphere of operations is the production and transformation of ideologies” (Dines/Humez18.) An ideology is basically a system of ideas that is specifically formed around economic and political theories, making racial stereotypes fit into this category flawlessly. This quote is basically saying that people will stereotype anyone based on their skin color, to match an idea of what they have in their head. For example, a common stereotype is that all African American men have stolen something within the span of their life; so if you see an African American male approaching your car window you may feel the need to lock your doors. However, when looking at the bigger picture you may discover that just because the mans skin is a different color, doesn’t mean that he is any different from you or me. So how did these stereotypes become so popular among our nation? Well, once media took over, it alone changed a lot of the world how we knew it, and racial/gender stereotypes were one of the major areas impacted. Around thirty-nine years ago a young scholar of African American

White supremacy and black inferiority have been an epidemic in our nation since the founding of our country. Our country is said to be one of the greatest democratic countries of all time; nevertheless, we have faced great problems such as slavery and unfair distribution of wealth. Our Constitution has helped to shape one of the greatest democratic countries, but it can simultaneously be deprecated for its promotion of institutional racism. People such as Thomas Jefferson, who owned slaves, wrote the Constitution. As a result, our country was founded on white supremacist beliefs. Our founding fathers were supposed to be drafting one of the greatest democratic documents ever written, but at the same time they were taking away from blacks certain freedoms and "unalienable rights," rights and freedoms that they themselves had fought for against the British. Our founding fathers spoke of equality and

Blacks were treated with tremendous cruelty in many different ways. Black lives before the civil rights movement were treated cruel and unfair. African Americans did not have the same opportunities that they have today. Before the movement they could not get an education, a good job, or a place to live. These men and women who worked for white landowners were pretty much treated like slaves. They were barely paid anything for the work that they did. Many blacks lived in the streets and did not even have a place to get out of the weather. Due to these factors many blacks lived in poverty and were treated very cruel. A staff Writer wrote, “For black Americans, the pre-Civil Rights era was a time of danger and turmoil, as they set out to claim

The film Ethnic Notions examines the various caricatures of African Americans in popular culture and the consequences of these representations from the 1800s to the 1980s. The film showed how America went through a face of injustice for a period of time. The internet defines stereotype as qualities assigned to groups of people related to their race, nationality and sexual orientation, to name a few. (Kemick) Throughout American history, African Americans have been victims of stereotypes in many ways. White majority use violence caricatures, stereotypes, dominance, subordination and the media as ways to overpower African Americans.

Throughout the years, racial stereotypes have played a major role in society. Even today, one combines racial stereotypes and prejudice thoughts before one even says a word to the person. Just seeing an African- American man while in a parking lot and pulling out ones phone, can be a simple example of modern-day racial stereotypes.

Racial stereotypes more or less affect our perceptions toward race, and judge people in a certain frame unconsciously, as Omi set forth in In Living Color: Race and American Culture. It greatly impact the images of minorities on the visual media, which the most direct medium to reflect the popular beliefs. Even though the “racist beliefs” have “just recently being reversed”, the portrayal of minorities on visual media is still not exemplary (Horton, et al “PORTRAYAL OF MINORITIES IN THE FILM, MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRIES”).

Often in many films that undermine African Americans, they are depicted as thief's, murders, or unintelligent. These images are used to show that African Americans are unlike their white counterparts. According to Friedman, "This formulation undermines the racially and sexually based violence toward African Americans, wiping out the memory of rape, castration, and lynching of slaves that occurred in the past" (Friedman). The development of African American films, or films that truly put African Americans in any type of positive light did not really start to occur until the 1970's or 1980's. Before then films were often negative in spirit. Paula Massood describes the Hollywood depictions of African Americans in the previous era as, "failing to recognize the sociopolitical changes in the American landscape. African American characters most often appeared within a southern setting, largely ignoring the black city space and culture that figured in the lives and the imaginations of a vast majority of African Americans" (Massood). However, in the following years the development and progression of African American films was able to be seen.

Stereotypes are like lice, once a person has them it is hard to get out of one’s head. Every group of people come along with specific stereotypes, a widely believed mental picture of the group. Stereotypes are based on truth, but usually tend to be exaggerated, unlike stereotypes, there are misconceptions. Misconceptions, a view that is incorrect and based on untruths, are formed from having stereotypes. Stereotypes are usually formed when one person in a particular group acts or does something causing people to think just because one person in that group is like that, the whole group is. The older generation passes down stereotypes to the younger generations and instead of getting to know the group, people just keep assuming. Movies are another

Violence against black people in America began when slaves were kidnapped from Africa and sent to America. White slave owners would beat them, breed them, make them work without pay and sell them as if they were animals. When Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States in 1860, he wanted to abolish slavery in the south. This lead to the civil war, a war between the north, called the Union, and south, which was called the Confederacy. The Confederacy wanted black people to still be slaves and the Union wanted to abolish it. The war ended with the Confederacy losing and the creation of the Emancipation Proclamation which freed all of the black people in the south. Once black people were freed, a white supremacist group called the Ku Klux Klan was created to prevent black people from fighting for equal rights. They would do this by terrorizing and murdering innocent black people. Not only did black people had to deal with the KKK, but they also had to deal with Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow laws were the laws that were specifically made to hurt the black community. All of these injustices lead to the beginning of the civil rights movement, where people fought for equality. After the Civil Rights movement, a majority of black people have equal rights, but still, have to face violent acts of racism in America.

Racial stereotyping started in America during the beginning days of slavery. Many racial stereotypes involving mental and physical capabilities was initiated from slave owners. White slave owners projected their own

Films have the power to both influence and reflect society. The stereotypes prevalent throughout American culture are reflected in most films. While the United States is becoming an increasingly diverse country, this diversity is not portrayed within American cinema. Minority figures often occupy

Hollywood and the media continues to promote social stereotypes as the white male is portrayed as upper-middle-class professional who is family-oriented while African Americans are depicted as thugs, funny, maids, best friends, and servants. The media sacrifices objective depiction of races to gain better ratings and earnings. Further, in most movies, blacks are depicted as foolish, lazy, submissive, violent, animal-like, and irresponsible. The 1915 film The Birth of a Nation was one of the first films to feature a strong stereotype by portraying blacks as subhuman.